Danes Take Eurovision

Emmelie de Forest won the 58th Eurovision Song Contest as the annual competition seemed to enjoy a relatively flak-free year.

The Danish pop singer’s “Only Teardrops” got to 281 points, a huge 47 points clear of second-place Azerbaijan, which won Eurovision 2011.

A Danish win meant there were less British media accusations of the competition becoming dominated by an eastern European cartel with real or imagined political reasons for making sure the UK finishes nearer bottom than top.

“The Eurovision song contest aims to draw nations together while simultaneously giving them an opportunity to punch one another in the kidneys,” as The Guardian put it.

The fact UK entrant Bonnie Tyler, 61, best known for her 1983 hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” came 19th with just 23 points shouldn’t be seen as further evidence that the eastern cartel is still doing its stuff.

Her problem may have been the lack of a Jim Steinman song. “Total Eclipse” shifted 9 million copies and it’s hard to imagine that “Believe in Me” will do anything like that.

Third place went to Ukraine, meaning two of the top three were from the old Eastern Bloc, while fourth was Greece with a rousing song called “Alcohol Is Free.”

Perhaps the cash-strapped Greeks were mindful that the downside of winning is picking up the cost of hosting next year’s show.

Being staged in Malmö, Sweden, also meant there was less noise from civil rights groups protesting Eurovision being staged by countries with poor records when it comes to freedom of speech.

Amnesty International used the occasion to point out that the apparent softening in attitude by the government of Azerbaijan – last year’s host country – only lasted until the spotlight of hosting Eurovision had faded.

It detailed how activists are still being sent to prison for staging peaceful protests, which are being broken up by police using rubber bullets and water cannon.